Youth America Grand Prix 2018

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP)

First Position is Bess Kargman’s 2011 documentary about the Youth America Grand Prix. Joan Sebastián Zamora is now Joffrey Ballet. Michaela DePrince is now Dutch National Ballet.

The world’s largest international dance competition brings talented youngsters, ages 9 – 19, from regional ballet competitions in Brazil, France, Mexico, Spain, Australia, China, Korea and Japan for a week-long final competition in New York City.

The dancers compete for scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools. Youth America has awarded over $3,000,000 in scholarships since 1999. Some dancers will launch their professional careers by doing well on the Youth America Grand Prix stage.

The plaza at Lincoln Center Plaza fills with kids warming up and burning off their energy. This is ballet for ballet dancers. The only thing that matches the energy on stage is the energy in the audience. It’s truly electric and a ballet experience like no other.

2018 Youth America Grand Prix

The New York Finals are April 13 – 20, 2018 at SUNY in Purchase, New York; Ailey Studios in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan and Symphony Space in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

2018 Youth America Grand Prix Final Round

The 2018 Youth America Grand Prix Final Round was at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 7 pm. $25 – $45

What a talented group of young dancers. The Portuguese dancers, Japanese men, and some Brazilians were real crowd pleasers. The women were beautiful, but the men were the most fun to watch.

Mexican Dancers

Portuguese Dancers

Margarita Fernandes, age 12, from Academia Annarella
Fernandes gave the first exceptional performance of the night

Rebecca Rudolf, age 14, from Academia Annarella

Antonio Casalinho, age 14, from Academie Annarella
Casalinho was a winner last year. The audience went absolutely wild for his outstanding performance of Diana & Acteon.

Francisco Gomes, age 14, from Academie Annarella
The audience enjoyed his performance.

Antonio Ferreira, age 14, from Escola de Danca do Conservatorio Nacional Portugal

Marcio Mota, age 17, from Escola de Danca do Conservatorio Nacional Portugal

Spanish Dancers

Paloma Berjano, age 18, from RCPD Mariemma

Pau Pujol, age 18, from Corella Dance Academy

We have to mention three young Japanese dancers. Yuma Matsuura, age 15, from Endo Ballet gave one of the most outstanding performances of the evening. Takayuki Moriwaki, age 15, from Koike Ballet Studio, and Masanori Takiguchi, age 18, from The Joffrey Academy of Dance also gave rousing performances.

Congratulations to all the dancers. Making the Youth America Grand Prix Final Round is a great achievement.

Everything is Possible

It’s fair to say that all of the dancers we saw are child prodigies. Most come from well-to-do families who are able to finance the training that a ballet career requires, but some of them come from nothing. They started dancing without shoes in the dirt because they are natural born dancers. Dancers have to dance. Punto (period.)

If your ballet dream is honest and you work hard, everything is possible. That is one of the missions of the Youth America Grand Prix – to give talented dancers opportunity, regardless of their background.

Watching these young artists, I couldn’t help but think of Misty Copeland. She didn’t come from privilege. She does not have the prototypical ballet body. She’s Black and while we have great dancers, none ever became a prima at a major ballet company. She only started ballet at age 13, the same age as many of these already well-trained dancers.

Misty even broke her leg along the way. Yet Misty Copeland of American Ballet Theatre really is America’s favorite ballerina, the most famous dancer in the United States since Michael Baryshnikov.

So wherever in the world you come from, and whatever your circumstances, keep dreaming, keep dancing, and we hope to see you next year.

Whether your night ended with a slip or a contract, we loved watching you dance.

¡ Bravo !

2018 Youth America Grand Prix Gala Performance

The Youth America Grand Prix Gala Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow is at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center on Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7 pm. $45

Invited performers include:

Isabella Boylston, American Ballet Theatre

Daniil Simkin, American Ballet Theatre

Olga Smirnova, Bolshoi Theatre.

Jacopo Tissi, Bolshoi Theatre

Alexandra Mukhamedov, (New York Professional Debut) Dutch National Ballet